South East Asian markets: Malaysia at record high, Thai index tests 14-year peak

Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Thursday as higher palm oil prices lifted plantation stocks and investors continued to pour money into financial shares because of growth in regional economies and consumption.
Brisk demand for food and edible oil producers helped push stock indexes in Malaysia and Indonesia to record intra-day peaks, with Singapore at eight-week highs and Thailand testing a 14-year peak.
Analysts saw good opportunities in these sectors. "Amidst the soft commodity rally and food inflation, we believe upstream will benefit the most, as higher commodity prices will flow down to their earnings and valuation multiples," Nomura's Tanuj Shori said in a research note.
The United Nations FAO food agency said on Wednesday food prices hit a record high last month. At the close on Thursday, Singapore's Straits Times Index was up 0.8 percent while Malaysia's main share index added 0.1 percent, but Indonesia's index finally ended down 1.3 percent, slipping from that record high, while the Thai index ended flat.
Vietnam's main index eked out a 0.1 percent gain, after a drop of almost 1 percent on Wednesday. The Philippines' index edged up 0.1 percent.
Moody's Investor Services upgraded the outlook on the Philippines' foreign and local currency bond ratings to positive from stable on Thursday, the day after the government sold $1.25 billion of global peso bonds.
Markets elsewhere in Asia were more subdued ahead of the US non-farm payrolls report on Friday. MSCI's Asia Pacific index excluding Japan was up 0.16 percent by 0915 GMT.
Among commodities stocks in Southeast Asia with a market capitalisation above $1 billion, Singapore-listed commodity firm Noble Group saw 2.5 times its average 30-day trading volume. Noble gained 1.8 percent on the day. Noble Group is the best proxy for the macroeconomic recovery, and strong momentum in agricultural and energy stocks should continue, according to Nomura's Tanuj.
Nomura reaffirmed Noble as its top buy, seeing its valuation at 14.6 times forecast fiscal year 2011 earnings as undemanding in the cyclical upswing.
Other large-cap stocks whose volume on the day was more than double the 30-day average included Wilmar International, the world's largest listed palm oil firm, which gained 1.4 percent.
Malaysian palm plantation firm Sime Darby rose 0.2 percent and Singapore-listed commodities firm Olam International was up 2.2 percent.
Univanich Palm Oil Pcl, the leading Thai palm oil producer, lost 1.9 percent as the government's plan to import crude palm oil triggered profit-taking in recent beneficiaries of rising prices.
Banks extended Wednesday's gains. Singapore's DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's biggest bank, added 1.1 percent and Thai leader Bangkok Bank climbed 2.2 percent. But Indonesia's banks and big caps pulled back, with top lender Bank Mandiri and Astra International, the country's biggest listed firm and its largest car distributor, both down about 2 percent.